ASSOCIATED PRESS

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ITH ONE OF COLLEGE football's most storied rivalries as the backdrop, a new helmet will be unveiled Saturday, bringing technology from the battlefield to the gridiron.
The helmets to be worn in the Army-Navy game in Philadelphia borrow the shock-absorbing technology used to protect Army paratroopers from head injuries.
The helmet is the latest in a new generation of equipment inspired by NFL- and NCAA-sponsored studies into concussions, the brain-rattling blows to the head that helped end the careers of quarterbacks Troy Aikman of the Dallas Cowboys and Steve Young of the San Francisco 49ers, among others.
The helmets were quietly tested this fall by players at Army, Navy and more than 30 other college and high school teams across the country, but Schutt Sports is using Saturday's game to publicly announce the new model.
Schutt Sports will begin selling the helmet in January, and its two main competitors have already introduced new models, the first major helmet changes in two decades.
Safety improvements
David Halstead, technical adviser to the National Operating Committee for Standards on Athletic Equipment, compared the advances to continuing safety improvements in the auto industry.
"Thirty years ago a 30 mph barrier collision was a death sentence. Now it's a broken ankle and air bag burns," he said. "We just have to figure out how to get rid of the broken ankle and air bag burns."
Two studies published last month found that football players who suffer concussions are left prone to another one, especially if they return to action too soon, and become slower to recover from such blows.
Athletic-equipment makers have been following the studies and creating models that could soften the blow.
The financial stakes are big for helmet makers. They are competing in a market of about 2 million U.S. players, many of whom wear the same helmet for years.
Litchfield-based Schutt has high hopes for its new DNA helmet, which replaces traditional foam cushioning with shock-absorbing pads also used in paratrooper helmets and on decks of military boats to soften the blow of riding at high speeds in rough water.
Testing the helmets
A few players with both Army and Navy have worn the new model in a season-long test.
The DNA's SKYDEX pads absorb shock using rows of twin hemispheres that are similar to two halves of a ball being squeezed together, said Larry Maddux, Schutt's research director. He said the pads absorb shock better than a much thicker layer of foam, leaving room for traditional padding to make the helmet comfortable.
Industry leader Riddell Sports, a Chicago company that gets most of the NFL's business through an official licensing agreement, introduced its new Revolution helmet last summer. It has an expanded shell that adds thickness and expands the area of protection toward the jaw.
Cookeville, Tenn.-based Adams USA, the industry's No. 3 seller, launched a lighter helmet, which the company says might reduce the risk of certain injuries because players will not be as inclined to drop their heads when they get tired.
Several University of Illinois players wore the new Riddell helmet this year, and one tested Schutt's DNA. The new helmets got good reviews, and none of the players suffered head injuries, said Trent Chestnut, the team's equipment manager.
"I think they're making strides, but it will take a few years to see how well they protect against concussions," Chestnut said.